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February 22, 1991
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Volume 41, Number 16
The Muse faces obscenity charges
Local paper makes national headlines
By Jeff Harrington
HALIFAX(CUP)--The
mass media have "missed
the boat" in the brouhaha
over a safer-sex article published Feb. 15 in The Muse,
say the paper's supporters.
"It's really unfortunate
the media pounced on this
and defined it immediately
as being about offending
people -- rather than as a
health education issue."
said Gary Kinsman, a
sociology professor at
Memorial University who
has done extensive research on AIDS education
issues.
The article, called "A gay
men's guide to erotic safer
sex." was part of The Muse's
annual lesbian and gay
supplement. It used explicit
language and erotic
scenarios to show gay men
how to enjoy sex while
reducing the risk of spreading HIV. the virus thought
to cause AIDS. It was accompanied by a suggestive
graphic taken from a
pamphlet on oral sex
produced by the AIDS Committee of Toronto.
Kinsman said the
media's fascination with
the various negative reactions to the article, rather
than its intent, has created
a "hysterical" atmosphere
which could stifle crucial
discussion about AIDS
education.
"This is a brilliant illustration of how the
homophobia in society is
preventing us from doing
the effective safe-sex and
AIDS education we have to
do."
Kinsman said community-based AIDS groups
in New York. San Francisco. Toronto and Vancouver
have been highly successful in reducing rates of HIV
transmission among men --
but only by using the approach taken by the article
in The Muse. To work, the
message must be explicit,
gay- and sex-positive, actually show people how to
have safe sex and use lan
guage appropriate to the
community it is aimed at.
"This is the type of work
that succeeds. This is what
works." said Kinsman.
After the supplement appeared. Memorial president
Arthur May told the St.
John's Evening Telegram
the article was "pornographic" and suggested
the Feb. 15 edition could
raise tuition fees by hurting
alumni donations.
Newspapers and radio
shows from as far away as
Montreal called The Muse
after the Council of the
Students' Union said it
would establish a publishing board to oversee the
paper's editorial content.
The Royal Newfoundland
Constabulary's statement
that it would launch an investigation made The Globe
and Mail's national edition.
In St. John's. The Sunday Express advised the
lesbian and gay communities to "take care not
to lose sight of their longer-
term social goals."
"What long-term goal are
they referring to -- that we
should book funeral parlors?" asked Padraic Brake,
the gay rights activist who
co-wrote the controversial
article.
Brake, a student at
Memorial, said explicit,
gay-positive education has
been proven effective in
study after study. He said
the article was a "replication of safe-sex material
used in other North
American cities." based on
the guidelines of the
Canadian AIDS Society.
The national umbrella
group's booklet on safe-sex
education urges that "a
variety of specifically
tailored terms be used for
the many different needs of
people, in their own erotic
vocabularies."
"It wasn't meant to sensa-
tionalize, nor to shock
anyone. It was to communicate directly to gay men in
the language that they
use," said Brake, who estimates there are over
2,000 lesbians and gay
men among sUidents. staff
and faculty at Memorial.
On Feb. 18. supporters of
The Muse held a press conference in the hope of focusing the media's gaze on the
health angle of the story.
"Mr. May seems to have
lost sight of the fact that
pornography is sexual imagery which presents a
human subject as a sexual
object for the use of the
viewer." said Theresa
Walsh, representing the St.
John's Status of Women
Council.
Walsh said May was
trying to throw up a
smokescreen.
"This article, and the accompanying photograph,
depicts a sexuality which is
mutually pleasurable and
entered into freely, not one
linked to violence, humiliation or ridicule." she said.
Robin Whitaker, a
Memorial student and
former Muse editor, said
the article has been used by
some people as an excuse
to gay-bash.
"AIDS is the issue here
and hiding the fact that
people are sexually active
and the ways they are
sexually active will only
perpetuate the problem."
she said.
Biology and Women's
Studies professor Joan
Scott said the university
should support the article.
"Art May is only exciting
homophobia on the campus when he should be
squelching it." she said.
"At cinemas, we are exposed to an avalanche of
movies that are graphic, explicit and full of coercive sex
and violence against
women. The (gay/lesbian)
supplement is completely
free of coercive sex."
May retracted his linkage
of tuition fee hikes and the
"pornographic" article the
next day.
Muse editor Dawn
Mitchell said that despite
the news conference, none
of the "zillions" of journalists pestering Muse staff
members seem to care
Gary Kinsman during the press conference in support of
The Muse at the LSPU Hall.
Photo by Johnathan Hayward
about AIDS education --
the point of the article in
the first place. Their interests: "shock value, the
police investigation, the
CSU. and May's comments."
"It's totally amazing --
they've blown it all out of
proportion. On TV. we were
put ahead of the Gulf War
and a possible outbreak of
meningitis." she said.
Kinsman cited the backlash over the gay-positive
article as an example of at-
tempts by government,
religious groups and the
mass media to suppress information about safe sex.
"The reality is, you have
to decide whether you're
going to allow HIV to spread
because of your moral'
perspective, or wrhether
you're going to seriously
grapple with explicit education," said Kinsman.
"Hopefully, more people
will realize we have to deal
with this issue, even
though it may offend a few
people. In many ways, this
is a health emergency." he
said.
The Muse is one of about
a dozen university
newspapers in Canada
which publish annual lesbian and gay supplements.
So far, at least two of these
-- The Ubyssey at the
University of British
Columbia and The Peak at
Simon Fraser University --
have reprinted the article in
support of The Muse. The
Link at Concordia University and The Varsity at the
University of Toronto plan
to follow suit next week.
Members of The Muse
staff have yet to hear from
the police.

February 22, 1991
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Volume 41, Number 16
The Muse faces obscenity charges
Local paper makes national headlines
By Jeff Harrington
HALIFAX(CUP)--The
mass media have "missed
the boat" in the brouhaha
over a safer-sex article published Feb. 15 in The Muse,
say the paper's supporters.
"It's really unfortunate
the media pounced on this
and defined it immediately
as being about offending
people -- rather than as a
health education issue."
said Gary Kinsman, a
sociology professor at
Memorial University who
has done extensive research on AIDS education
issues.
The article, called "A gay
men's guide to erotic safer
sex." was part of The Muse's
annual lesbian and gay
supplement. It used explicit
language and erotic
scenarios to show gay men
how to enjoy sex while
reducing the risk of spreading HIV. the virus thought
to cause AIDS. It was accompanied by a suggestive
graphic taken from a
pamphlet on oral sex
produced by the AIDS Committee of Toronto.
Kinsman said the
media's fascination with
the various negative reactions to the article, rather
than its intent, has created
a "hysterical" atmosphere
which could stifle crucial
discussion about AIDS
education.
"This is a brilliant illustration of how the
homophobia in society is
preventing us from doing
the effective safe-sex and
AIDS education we have to
do."
Kinsman said community-based AIDS groups
in New York. San Francisco. Toronto and Vancouver
have been highly successful in reducing rates of HIV
transmission among men --
but only by using the approach taken by the article
in The Muse. To work, the
message must be explicit,
gay- and sex-positive, actually show people how to
have safe sex and use lan
guage appropriate to the
community it is aimed at.
"This is the type of work
that succeeds. This is what
works." said Kinsman.
After the supplement appeared. Memorial president
Arthur May told the St.
John's Evening Telegram
the article was "pornographic" and suggested
the Feb. 15 edition could
raise tuition fees by hurting
alumni donations.
Newspapers and radio
shows from as far away as
Montreal called The Muse
after the Council of the
Students' Union said it
would establish a publishing board to oversee the
paper's editorial content.
The Royal Newfoundland
Constabulary's statement
that it would launch an investigation made The Globe
and Mail's national edition.
In St. John's. The Sunday Express advised the
lesbian and gay communities to "take care not
to lose sight of their longer-
term social goals."
"What long-term goal are
they referring to -- that we
should book funeral parlors?" asked Padraic Brake,
the gay rights activist who
co-wrote the controversial
article.
Brake, a student at
Memorial, said explicit,
gay-positive education has
been proven effective in
study after study. He said
the article was a "replication of safe-sex material
used in other North
American cities." based on
the guidelines of the
Canadian AIDS Society.
The national umbrella
group's booklet on safe-sex
education urges that "a
variety of specifically
tailored terms be used for
the many different needs of
people, in their own erotic
vocabularies."
"It wasn't meant to sensa-
tionalize, nor to shock
anyone. It was to communicate directly to gay men in
the language that they
use," said Brake, who estimates there are over
2,000 lesbians and gay
men among sUidents. staff
and faculty at Memorial.
On Feb. 18. supporters of
The Muse held a press conference in the hope of focusing the media's gaze on the
health angle of the story.
"Mr. May seems to have
lost sight of the fact that
pornography is sexual imagery which presents a
human subject as a sexual
object for the use of the
viewer." said Theresa
Walsh, representing the St.
John's Status of Women
Council.
Walsh said May was
trying to throw up a
smokescreen.
"This article, and the accompanying photograph,
depicts a sexuality which is
mutually pleasurable and
entered into freely, not one
linked to violence, humiliation or ridicule." she said.
Robin Whitaker, a
Memorial student and
former Muse editor, said
the article has been used by
some people as an excuse
to gay-bash.
"AIDS is the issue here
and hiding the fact that
people are sexually active
and the ways they are
sexually active will only
perpetuate the problem."
she said.
Biology and Women's
Studies professor Joan
Scott said the university
should support the article.
"Art May is only exciting
homophobia on the campus when he should be
squelching it." she said.
"At cinemas, we are exposed to an avalanche of
movies that are graphic, explicit and full of coercive sex
and violence against
women. The (gay/lesbian)
supplement is completely
free of coercive sex."
May retracted his linkage
of tuition fee hikes and the
"pornographic" article the
next day.
Muse editor Dawn
Mitchell said that despite
the news conference, none
of the "zillions" of journalists pestering Muse staff
members seem to care
Gary Kinsman during the press conference in support of
The Muse at the LSPU Hall.
Photo by Johnathan Hayward
about AIDS education --
the point of the article in
the first place. Their interests: "shock value, the
police investigation, the
CSU. and May's comments."
"It's totally amazing --
they've blown it all out of
proportion. On TV. we were
put ahead of the Gulf War
and a possible outbreak of
meningitis." she said.
Kinsman cited the backlash over the gay-positive
article as an example of at-
tempts by government,
religious groups and the
mass media to suppress information about safe sex.
"The reality is, you have
to decide whether you're
going to allow HIV to spread
because of your moral'
perspective, or wrhether
you're going to seriously
grapple with explicit education," said Kinsman.
"Hopefully, more people
will realize we have to deal
with this issue, even
though it may offend a few
people. In many ways, this
is a health emergency." he
said.
The Muse is one of about
a dozen university
newspapers in Canada
which publish annual lesbian and gay supplements.
So far, at least two of these
-- The Ubyssey at the
University of British
Columbia and The Peak at
Simon Fraser University --
have reprinted the article in
support of The Muse. The
Link at Concordia University and The Varsity at the
University of Toronto plan
to follow suit next week.
Members of The Muse
staff have yet to hear from
the police.